Cosmological Simulations: Production and Analysis of Realistic Representations

James Stockton

Galaxies represent a crossroads between small and large scale effects and, as such, are both a notoriously difficult subject of study and a critical testing ground for theoretical predictions. In recent years, the simulations of Fabio Governato have produced surprisingly realistic spiral galaxies via the inclusion of prescriptions for star formation, supernova feedback, and the effects of the cosmological UV background. I will present the current simulations of my collaborators with a focus on recent improvements in the modeling of sub-resolution effects, the use of radiative transfer routines to produce realistic images of their simulations, and the importance of introducing observational effects. It is only after the outputs from simulations have undergone the same effects present in the observations of real galaxies that any meaningful comparisons can be made.